-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Even when Chelsea held a nine-point lead over Manchester City atop English football 's Premier League , Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho always maintained his team was n't the favorite .

He is being proved right -- with Saturday not helping the Blues .

Chelsea suffered a shock 1-0 loss at relegation threatened Crystal Palace and hours later saw Manchester City gain a point thanks to a 1-1 draw at Arsenal . It might have been worse for Chelsea , since City led 1-0 .

`` I think it is now impossible to win the title , '' Mourinho told Sky Sports before the Manchester City game . `` We depend too much on other results . ''

Chelsea still leads the standings by a point over Liverpool and two over City but City has two games in hand and Liverpool will go top if it earns a point Sunday at home against Tottenham .

Manchester City , fresh off a convincing victory in the Manchester derby , took a deserved lead in London in the 18th minute when David Silva was the quickest to react after Edin Dzeko 's left-footed shot struck the post .

Arsenal appeared listless , perhaps the result of losing 6-0 at Chelsea last week and then dropping more points against Swansea .

But the Gunners were a different side in the second half , leveling through defensive midfielder Mathieu Flamini in the 53rd . And Arsenal almost took the lead , Joe Hart stopping Lukas Podolski with City creaking .

In the end City seemed happy to take a point judging by manager Manuel Pellegrini 's substitutions .

`` We played better in the first half , '' Pellegrini told Sky Sports .

Although Chelsea tallied more than 20 shots , only two were on goal and none managed to beat keeper Julian Speroni . Speroni twice thwarted Chelsea 's offensive star , Eden Hazard .

John Terry , so solid for Chelsea this season , gave Palace a valuable three points with an own goal in the 52nd minute .

Mourinho did n't blame Terry and in fact praised his four main defenders as a whole . However , he added : `` You have other players who are fantastic in some matches and disappear in other matches . ''

Manchester United has struggled in its first season under David Moyes but there were boos when a banner flew above Old Trafford calling for the Scot 's departure .

Wayne Rooney -- a week after his wonder goal from the halfway mark against West Ham -- scored twice in United 's 4-1 lunchtime win over Aston Villa . Rooney was substituted in the second half , days ahead of United 's Champions League quarterfinal against title holder Bayern Munich .

Elsewhere , English trio Rickie Lambert , Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana shone for Southampton again in a 4-0 home win against Newcastle ; and relegation contenders West Bromwich Albion and Cardiff City played to a 3-3 draw after both scored deep in injury time .

Stoke and Swansea further eased their relegation worries by defeating Hull 1-0 and Norwich 3-0 , respectively .

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Chelsea suffers a shock 1-0 loss at relegation threatened Crystal Palace

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Manchester City gains a point by tying Arsenal 1-1 in the late kickoff

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Chelsea leads Liverpool by a point and City by two atop the table

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Liverpool will go top of the Premier League with a draw Sunday